Tendulkar, India hoping to bounce back against Aussies in second test

SYDNEY — Sachin Tendulkar hopes that there's safety, or at least comfort, in numbers at the Sydney Cricket Ground as India attempts to level the four-test series with Australia.

Tendulkar, still in search of his 100th international century, has 664 runs at an average of 221.33 in four tests at the SCG. In 2004 he shared a record SCG fourth-wicket partnership with V.V.S. Laxman — they added 353 with Tendulkar scoring an unbeaten 241 — as India declared its first-innings at 705-7 in the drawn fourth test.

Both Tendulkar and Laxman also scored centuries in the first innings of the acrimonious 2008 test at the SCG.

India, which lost the series-opening test in Melbourne last week by 122 runs, has never won a test series in Australia. But it has been involved in some epic matches at the ground and will be more confident than usual with a Tendulkar milestone on the line.

Rohit Sharma, who could make his test debut at the expense of middle-order batsman Virat Kohli, said the SCG was a venue most of his teammates enjoyed.

"You look at the past record, what we've done in Sydney, it's tremendous, whether it's one-day cricket or test cricket," he said. "Individual players have performed really well. Hopefully Sydney turns out lucky again for us in this test match."

Despite all the hype of Tendulkar's quest for 100 hundreds, and an SCG crowd that would probably love to see it happen, Michael Clarke's Australian lineup would just as soon see the drought continue.

"I can assure you that everyone in our dressing room does not want him to make a 100," veteran batsman Mike Hussey said.

"I am a bit nervous because the stars seem to be aligning with Sachin needing one more 100. (It's) the 100th test match in Sydney, he's made runs here before."

The last time Australia hosted India at the SCG was in 2008, when the relations between the two teams reached an all-time low.

Clarke's three wickets in the final overs of the fifth day of that match delivered the Australians a world record-equaling 16th consecutive test win, but allegations Andrew Symonds had been racially abused by Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh overshadowed the outcome. There was speculation that India proposed boycotting the remainder of the tour.

"That was a long time ago and the personalities and teams have changed quite a lot, particularly in our team," Hussey said.

"That's gone, that's in the past. I think the players that were involved in all the controversies have moved on, even played together."

Hussey believes this year's SCG test pitch could see a return to the drier, more spin-friendly wickets of the past.

"Just from walking across the ground it looks a lot less green than it has been the last few years," Hussey said. "Certainly in the last few years I think the Sydney pitch has changed texture from when it used to be a real dustbowl and helped the spinners."

India will not name its team until just before the toss Tuesday.

SYDNEY — Australia has announced an unchanged starting XI for the second test against India beginning on Tuesday.

Australia is opting not to use a four-pronged pace attack at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Offspinner Nathan Lyon has retained his spot and fast bowler Ryan Harris, who did not recover from injury in time to be part of the Melbourne test which Australia won by 122 runs last week, has been named as the 12th man.

Skipper Michael Clarke on Monday said Harris has "been a wonderful bowler for us . . . it was tough to leave him out, but we've stuck with the winning team."

There had been speculation that Harris could be recalled as part of an all-pace attack for the 100th test at the SCG, which has lost its reputation as a turning wicket in recent years.

"We've had a long-enough break as well and that was probably the other consideration," Clarke said ahead of a training session Monday.

"Finishing the (first test) a day early and the bowlers not bowling too many overs in the second innings has certainly helped them."

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Tokyo appoints Popovic as manager

Promoted FC Tokyo on Monday named former Oita Trinita boss Ranko Popovic as the newly crowned Emperor's Cup winners' manager for next season.

The 44-year-old Serbian, who got FC Machida Zelvia promoted from the semi-professional Japan Football League to the J. League after guiding them to third place last season, takes over from Kiyoshi Okuma.

"I want to establish an attractive FC Tokyo style and try and win games with an attacking brand of soccer," Popovic said in a club statement.

Popovic in July 2009 replaced sacked Brazilian manager Pericles Chamusca at Oita when the club had effectively already been relegated to the second division.

Okuma steered second-division champion Tokyo to a 4-2 win over Kyoto Sanga in the Emperor's Cup final on Sunday.

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Austria's Schlierenzauer jumps to another win

Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria followed up his victory in the first leg of the Four Hills Tour ski jumping competition by winning the second on Sunday.

Schlierenzauer put himself firmly in contention to repeat his success at Oberstdorf on Friday when he cleared 138 meters with his first jump. The 20-year-old's second, of 134 meters, was enough for 274.5 points overall.

"I must be honest — it wasn't the best jump from me," Schlierenzauer said. "But it's unbelievable. A super day for me."

Another Austrian, Andreas Kofler, finished second with jumps of 130.5 and 137.5 meters for 270.4 points.

Daiki Ito posted jumps of 138.5 and 141.5 but a poor landing on the second jump meant he finished third on 269.6.

Ito, still winless on the World Cup circuit, had 269.6 for his sixth career podium finish and first since Dec. 9, when he was runnerup to Schlierenzauer.

Taku Takeuchi shared fourth with Kamil Stoch of Poland on 268.0 points, while Noriaki Kasai was 29th.

Germany's Severin Freund finished a disappointing day for the hosts by finishing seventh.

Schlierenzauer said he wasn't thinking of the 1 million Swiss Franc prize on offer should he make it a clean sweep of wins on the Four Hills Tour.

"It's not in my head, but of course it would be the icing on the cake," he said.

Kofler still leads the World Cup standings after nine of 27 events, with Schlierenzauer in second.

The next stop on the tour, which is part of the World Cup circuit, is at Innsbruck, Austria on Wednesday.

OBERSTDORF GERMANY — Petter Northug of Norway edged defending champion Dario Cologna of Switzerland to win a 10-km classic-style and 10K freestyle skiathlon in the Tour de Ski cross-country series Sunday, with compatriot Marit Bjoergen claiming the women's event.

World and Olympic champion Northug claimed a sprint finish to win in 50 minutes, 27.3 seconds, 0.3 seconds ahead of Cologna, with Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin third, 0.6 seconds back.

After four of nine events, Northug leads by only 1.1 seconds overall from Cologna.

Bjoergen later produced a strong finish to claim the women's race, a 5K classic-style and 5K freestyle event, in 27 minutes and 16 seconds, coming from behind to finish 1.6 seconds ahead of Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk with Norway's Therese Johaug a further 0.2 seconds back.

"It means a lot to me to win," Bjoergen said.

Kowalczyk remains the overall leader after four races, 26.6 seconds ahead of Bjoergen.

The next races in the grueling Tour de Ski series staged over 11 days take place in Toblach, Italy, on Tuesday.

"Everything can happen in Toblach," Northug said. "If there's a big group working together, it can easily be four or five athletes fighting for the victory."

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Jets beat Two Three in Emperor's Cup debut

The Chiba Jets' defensive intensity picked up in the second half of Monday's Emperor's Cup game against club team Two Three. At the same time, the Jets starting making shots with regularity.

Two big runs fueled the Jets' strong second half in a runaway 99-68 victory over the Yamamguchi Prefecture-based squad at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

The expansion Jets, under first-year coach Eric Gardow, became the first bj-league team to appear in an All-Japan Basketball Championship game, doing so in the 87th Emperor's Cup.

"It's a great opportunity for Japanese players to show their talents in a great atmosphere," said Chiba coach Eric Gardow, who previously coached pro ball in Qatar.

Chiba, which led 45-40 at halftime, had spurts of 14-0 and 16-0 and opened the second half by outscoring Two Three 40-12. That made it 85-57 after Shota Isshiki's baseline jumper late in the fourth quarter.

"Getting stops defensively and getting rebounds," were keys, Gardow told reporters. "More importantly, we got some easy transition baskets. (Lead guard) Maurice (Hargrow) got into a little rhythm there right off the bat in the third quarter, which was good for him. And that felt natural for us when he was in that position. That just really let us settle down a little bit. Our guys were nervous, excited, playing in the All-Japan (Championship). A lot of these guys grew up dreaming about this."

Forward Tomoya "Chomo" Nakamura, who has played in the bj-league since its establishment in 2005, was among the players fulfilling that dream. In fact, Nakamura had played in the Emperor's Cup eight years earlier while at Chuo University.

Nakamura said it was his dream to again play before the excited boosters in the Emperor's Cup.

"As expected, it was a good feeling to be out there today," he said with a big smile. "I really enjoyed the game."

"I'm glad to be here," he added.

Noticing a banner held up by fans behind the team's bench that featured the logos of all 19 bj-league teams, Nakamura said the Jets were "proud to represent Chiba, proud to represent the bj-league" at this marquee event.

Hargrow, meanwhile, admitted he didn't realize how big a deal the Emperor's Cup was on a national level to Japanese players and fans, but soon found out by the way his teammates and the boosters became fired up as the game progressed. "It was fun," he added. "We're honored to be here and represent the bj-league."

With the win, the Jets will face JBL club Levanga Hokkaido on Wednesday afternoon. The 32-team tourney, featuring JBL, JBL2, college, club and high school representatives, will crown a champion next Monday.

"With all due respect, we are the underdog," Gardow said, looking ahead to Chiba's next game."We're not expected to win, but we're really looking forward to the challenge. I don't know how to prepare to lose, but I know how to prepare to win whether we are playing the (Los Angeles) Lakers or Hokkaido."

Facing Hokkaido, Gardow added, will be a fun challenge, noting that the club has a "Japanese legend (Takehiko Orimo) that's still playing."

Hargrow paced the Jets with a game-high 24 points and a team-high three 3-pointers. Nakamura had 17 points and a game-best 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Takaki Ishida poured in 11 points, Mitsuhiro Kamezaki scored nine, Hiroki Sato had eight and Kensuke Tanaka and Kosuke Yahata chipped in with seven points apiece.

Chiba was 26-for-39 at the free-throw line. The Jets out-rebounded Two Three 55-39 and held the club team to 28-for-78 shooting.

Osamu Shimabukuro led Two Three with 13 points.

The Emperor's Cup is a much different format than bj-league games. For starters, it features the one-import rule; bj-league rules permit three foreigners on the court except during the second quarter when the number is reduced to two. Second, the tournament games are played with a FIBA regulation ball instead of the bj-league's NBA-regulation size Spalding ball. Third, two game officials instead of three are on the court.

The Jets prepared for the national tournament by using the Molten basketball during Monday's practice. That got them used to the feel of the FIBA-size ball, Hargrow said. "But at the end of the day," he said, "it's still just basketball."

Attacking the basket with regularity kept the Jets playing at a high level for much of the game. The 198-cm Nakamura was a focal point of the team's inside game as the team got him the ball early and often.

Nakamura was 6-for-9 from the field, and fans chanted "Chomo, Chomo, Chomo," when the ball was in his hands. All told, the Jets were 26-for-52 from inside the 3-point arc. They shot 7-for-17 from the arc.

Nakamura, who has played for the title-winning Osaka Evessa and championship-contending Tokyo Apache in past years, scored the game's first two points at the charity stripe, and Chiba led 5-0 after a Hargrow 3-pointer. But Two Three, relying on speed, good ball movement and capable perimeter shooting, kept it close. The Jets trailed 18-13 after Satoru Morita buried a 3 for Two Three, but tied it at 18-18 on a pair of Hayato Shirata free throws with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

With time running down, Chiba forward Reina Itakura delivered a nice pass to big man Gaston Moliva, who scored inside for the final points of the opening quarter. That made it 25-22, Chiba.

The Jets extended their lead to 37-26 early in the second quarter, but their Yamaguchi foe kept poised and made enough shots to keep it close.

Chiba led 45-40 at halftime.

Two Three was whistled for 25 personal fouls to Chiba's 15. The Jets' relentless attack-the-basket mind-set paid off.

"That's our style. That's how we play. We're leading the bj-league in free-throw attempts," Gardow said. "And it doesn't matter who we're playing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the second part of that is we need to make our free throws. We left a lot of them out there (against Two Three), and that can't happen for us to beat a good team like Hokkaido. We're going to have to attack, get them in foul trouble and get them into their bench and also convert our free throws for us to even have a chance to win."

After Monday's triumph, Gardow had a chance to reflect on the historic significance of Chiba's appearance in the Emperor's Cup.

"I'm really excited to be here from a Chiba Jets standpoint. I'm happy to represent the Chiba Jets and the bj-league," Gardow said. "And it's my hope that more bj-league teams can be a part of this in the future. And with that said, we're the ones that probably have to make the biggest adjustment to the rules, to the balls, to import players, to lineups. Everybody else can pretty much keep doing what they're doing. So for us to have to go through all those adjustments and still come out on top with a win, that's pretty good for us. We're very pleased."

Notes: The Jets are 10-12 and in sixth place in the bj-league's Eastern Conference standings. This week's competition gives the team's players a different venue and matchups to compete against. Several bj-league officials, including director of officials Kunio Kurata were spotted near courtside during the game against Two Three.

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Anderson's hot hand rescues win for Magic

ORLANDO, Florida — The Orlando Magic struggled during much of their game against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, playing sloppily on offense and failing to contain Andrea Bargnani at the rim.

On the move: Magic guard J.J. Redick drives past the Raptors' Andrea Bargnani on Sunday in Orlando. The Magic won 102-96. AP PHOTO

But a 4-minute stretch in the fourth quarter made everything all better.

The Magic went on a late 16-0 run, led by the shooting of Ryan Anderson — who finished with 24 points — to erase a double-digit deficit and defeat the Raptors 102-96.

Orlando shot 4 for 5 from 3-point range during the burst, with Anderson making two of them, as the Magic took a 94-89 lead with 3:05 left after trailing by as many as 16 points.

"We sort of could've just given up, but we kept pushing through it," Anderson said. "This was huge for us."

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Magic, who have won four straight since a season-opening loss to Oklahoma City. J.J. Redick added 21 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 15 points and seven assists.

"I thought we played a great fourth quarter," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Our intensity level went way up."

Bargnani paced the Raptors with 28 points, and Jose Calderon had 18 points and 13 assists.

It was the second consecutive late collapse by the Raptors, who also gave up a second-half lead to Dallas on Friday.

"I don't really have an explanation as to why this game got away," Calderon said. "It's tough. It's kind of like the same thing that happened with Dallas. They're two veteran teams. They know how to play in those moments. We've got to learn from that."

Bargnani, who scored only three of his 28 points in the fourth period, was disappointed with his team's showing.

"We really made the game for three quarters; we played good offense and great defense," he said. "But we didn't play that way in the fourth quarter. We played really bad."

Celtics 94, Wizards 86

In Washington, Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds while Kevin Garnett had 24 points and nine rebounds to lead Boston over the winless Wizards.

The victory was the Celtics' second straight after losing their first three. Washington is 0-4.

Heat 129, Bobcats 90

In Miami, Chris Bosh scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half as the Heat improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history.

The 129 points is the most scored by any NBA team so far this season and the 39-point victory margin matched the third-largest in Heat history. Dwyane Wade scored 22 points and LeBron James and Mario Chalmers each scored 16 for the Heat, who ran out to an 18-point lead after one quarter and never trailed.

Cavaliers 98, Nets 82

In Cleveland, Antawn Jamison scored 23 points and the Cavaliers made 16 3-pointers in a win over New Jersey.

T-Wolves 99, Mavericks 82

In Minneapolis, Kevin Love had 25 points and 17 rebounds and hit two huge 3s in the fourth quarter to help the Timberwolves end an 18-game losing streak dating deep into last season.

Bulls 104, Grizzlies 64

In Chicago, Carlos Boozer scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Bulls easily won their home opener.

Nuggets 99, Lakers 90

In Denver, Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points, Ty Lawson had 17 points and 10 assists and the Nuggets beat the Lakers.

Kings 96, Hornets 80

In Sacramento, Tyreke Evans had 27 points and Marcus Thornton scored 25 for the Kings in a victory over New Orleans.

Clippers 93, Trail Blazers 88

In Los Angeles, Blake Griffin had his second straight double-double, Caron Butler scored 19 points and the Clippers opened the new year with a victory over Portland to snap a two-game skid.

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